Apparatus for conditioning continuously cast bars

ABSTRACT

Apparatus is disclosed for conditioning a continuously cast bar particularly of the type formed employing a continuous casting wheel and a belt, and includes a plurality of working stations which form in the bar chamfered corners which are thereafter formed into a radius and the surface of the bar is conditioned prior to hot working.

United States Patent Staskiewicz et al.

1 51 Dec. 25, 1973 APPARATUS FOR CONDITIONING CONTINUOUSLY CAST BARS Inventors: Fred C. Staskiewicz, 11 Deborah Ln., Buffalo, NY. 14225; Robert E. Fromson, 27 Dogwood Rd., Williamsville, N.Y. 14221 Filed: Apr. 16, 1971 Appl. No.: 134,888

Related US. Application Data Continuation of Ser. No. 733,605, May 31, 1968, abandoned.

u.s. c1 72/40, 1'64/70, 164/263 1m. (:1... B21b 45/02, B2lb 45/04, 822d 11/12 Field of Search 29/5275, 527.6,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 10/1919 Locke 72/40 6/1936 Lindner 29/527.6

2,680,938 6/1954 Peterson 72/39 3,331,123 7/1967 Cofer 164/70 3,336,778 8/1967 Follrath 72/39 3,469,620 9/1969 Ward et a1 164/70 3,479,852 11/1969 Conrad et a1. 7'2/40 3,492,918 2/1970 Michelson 164/70 3,503,161 3/1970 Long 164/263 359,348 3/1887 Daniels 164/263 Primary ExaminerRichard J. l-lerbst Assistant Examiner-E. M. Combs AttorneyF. Shapoe and R. T. Randig [5 7 ABSTRACT Apparatus is disclosed for conditioning acontinuously cast bar particularly of the type formed employing a continuous casting wheel and a belt, and includes a plurality of working stations which form in the bar chamfered corners which are thereafter formed into a radius and the surface of the bar is conditioned prior to hot working.

12 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATENIEDUEBBS 191a 3.780.552

SHEET 2 or 3 FIGS.

WITNESSES WEN 8 BY 6 W rA'TToRNE PATENTEU DEC 25 I975 SHEEI 3 BF 3 FIG.8.

APPARATUS FOR CONDITIONING CONTINUOUSLY CAST BARS This application is a continuation of Scr. No. 733,605, filed May 31, 1968, now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to apparatus which is disposed intermediate hot working apparatus and a continuous casting machine of the type in which the continuously cast bar is formed in a rotating wheel having a metal casting groove against which a flexible belt is disposed in close engagement. It will be appreciated that when continuously casting copper bar, for example, employing a wheel mold and a continuously moving belt which is disposed in seating engagement with the outer periphery of the wheel, close seating engagement of the moving belt with the moving wheel in which the metal is being continuously cast is not always possible. As a result thereof the cast bar as it emerges from the casting wheel may be characterized by having flashing at the edges where the belt meets the wheel. It becomes important to remove such flashing and other defects which can adversely affect the ultimate quality of the roller product being produced. This is especially true when continuously casting copper for the ultimate production of magnet quality wire. In this instance the continuously cast bar is directly hot worked into rod form without any intermediate reheating. Consequently, the continuously cast bar must be in condition prior to hot working in order to remove such flashing, scabs, surface scale or such other defects as may be rolled into the material, otherwise the defects would adversely affect the same and in some cases re sulting in the necessity for scrapping large amounts of the finally produced wire. In addition thereto, any thermal cracking or casting voids which might occur are usually located at the corners of the top surface of the bar and such cracks should be removed in order to provide a uniform surface for subsequent satisfactory hot rolling. Moreover, because of the geometry of the cross-sectional area of the bar resulting from the continuous casting employing a grooved wheel and a flexible belt, the solidified bar emerges with sharp corners at the intersection of the side walls and the surface formed by contact with the belt. Since hot working to rod form involves the alternate formation of rounds and ovals," the sharp corners of the bar can be folded over resulting in cold sheets, slivers and scams, either with or without entrapped scale, with the result that a poor quality product is produced.

SUMMARY or THE l-NVENTlON The present invention relates to an apparatus which is disposed intermediate hot working apparatus a continuous casting machine which employs a grooved continuous casting wheel and a flexible belt capable of closing the top of the groove, thus providing a bar which has a substantially flat top surface, a pair of vertical inwardly tapering side walls and a substantially flat bottom surface, the flat bottom surface and the substantially inwardly tapering vertical side walls being joined by a smooth radius therebetween. Such casting wheels are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,322,184; 3,279,000 and 2,865,067. Such bar conditioning apparatus is disposed intermediate said continuous casting machine and a hot working rolling apparatus and it is contemplated that the hot working apparatus will take the continuously cast bar which is conditioned by the apparatus of the present invention and hot work the same without any intermediate reheating, and said hot working commencing before the average temperature of the metal bar drops below 1,600 F. for copper.

The bar as it is delivered from the continuous casting machine is directed by means of guides to a first station of the bar conditioning apparatus which comprises means for supporting said bar and chamfering means which are deployed above the flat top surface of the bar and which when lowered into functioning contact with the bar provides a chamfered edge between the flat top surface and the vertically extending inwardly tapering side walls of the bar. The chamfered bar is next conveyed through guides to a radiusing station, said radiusing station including means for supporting the bar for movement through said station and a tool disposed thereat which tool is provided with a radiusing cutting means of predetermined geometry. The radiusing station is effective for producing a smooth radius whereby the flat top surface and the vertically extending inwardly tapering side walls are joined by means of a smooth radius therebetween.

After the bar has been given a smooth radius it is conveyed through additional guide means to a surface conditioning unit which in the present embodiment comprises two operations. The first operation comprises at least one pair of opposed wire brushes which are disposed on a horizontal axis on opposite sides, namely at the flat top and at the bottom surface of the moving bar and are rotated in such a manner as to remove mechanically all oxide, chips, scale, slivers, and similar defects from these surfaces of the bar. Each of the wire brushes is equipped for fluid coolant to be flowed therethrough for the purpose of aiding in the brushing action, removing the brushed or loosened scale and other defects and for effectively cooling the brushes thereby prolonging the life. The second operation comprises at least one pair of generally vertical axially depending brushes which are disposed on opposite sides of the moving bar and are inclined at a predetermined angle so that said wire brushes tangentially contact the vertically extending inwardly tapering side walls in a substantially line contact fashion. Thus, the maximum surface will be contacted by the wire brushes which are also fluid cooled and dispense the fluid in the same manner as the horizontally disposed brushes. As a result thereof the bar is provided with smooth radii at each of the intersections of the top and bottom surface with the vertically extending inwardly tapering side walls and all flat surfaces namely the top surface, the bottom surface and the vertical side walls are conditioned by mechanically removing superficial defects therefrom prior to the bar entering the hot working apparatus.

It is an object of the present invention to condition a continuous cast bar prior to hot working the same.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a means whereby a continuously cast bar may have all of the surface defects removed and all sharp intersections changed to a smooth radius prior to hot working the same.

A more specific object of the present invention is to provide apparatus in which the intersection between the flat top and vertically extending side walls of a continuously cast bar may be chamfered and thereafter given a smooth radius and the entire surface mechanically cleaned prior to hot working the same.

Another more specific object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus whereby a plurality of stations are disposed in tandem for continuously chamfering, radiusing and mechanically brushing the surface of a continuously cast bar prior to hot working the same without any intermediate reheating, said chamfering, radiusing and surface brushing being accomplished before the temperature of the metal drops to below 1,600" P.

An additional more specific object of the present invention is to provide apparatus for chamfering, radiusing and conditioning of continuously cast bar stock which apparatus will accommodate vertical movement within limits from the pass line without loss of function of the apparatus.

Other objects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art when taken in conjunction with the following drawings in which:

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a view in elevation of the bar conditioning apparatus of the present invention illustrating the several stations for accomplishing the foregoing objectlves;

FIG. 2 is a right-hand end view of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the shape of a continuously cast bar, said bar being continuously cast in a grooved wheel having a flexible belt disposed in seating engagement thereover;

FIG. 4 is a view in section of the bar of FIG. 2 after the bar has passed the chamfering station;

FIG. 5 is a view of the bar as the same appears after having a radius applied to the chamfered corners thereof;

FIG. 6 is a partial view of the tool by which the radiusing of the bar corners is accomplished;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of the cutting insert of FIG. 6 illustrating the angular relationships therebetween; and

FIG. 8 is a view of the arbor and guard of the horizontal and vertical surfacing stations.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings and to FIG. I in particular there is illustrated a bar conditioning machine shown generally at 10 for conditioning a continuously cast bar 12 and which comprises a plurality of stations as will be more fully described. In the embodiment illustrated, it is preferred to have five independent stations, namely, a chamfer station 40, a first radius station 60, a second radius station 80, a horizontal surface station 90 and a vertical surface station 110. The bar conditioning machine 10 is designed for use in tandem with a continuous casting machine (not shown) and intermediate the continuous casting machine and hot working apparatus (not shown). The continuous casting machine produces the bar 12 having the general cross-sectional shape illustrated in FIG. 3 which includes flat top 14, vertically extending inwardly tapering side walls '16, base 18 and radius 20 connecting the base l8 with the side walls 16. The inwardly tapering side walls 16 are sloped, preferably at an angle of about 9 E. This slope gives a bar included angle of 80 as will be more fully explained. Since the bar conditioning machine is disposed in tandem between the continuous casting machine (not shown) and the hot working machine (not shown) and since the temperature of the metal being conditioned is between the hot working temperature and the melting point, the bar is quite plastic and requires close support and guidance. This support and guidance is preferably carried on the framework of the present apparatus. Accordingly, the bar conditioning machine 10 is provided with a framework which includes forward and rear vertical end supports 21 preferably secured to the foundation, a plurality of intermediate vertically extending supports 22, cross braces 23 disposed between the vertical supports 21 and 22 and horizontal braces 24 disposed between the various vertical supports 21 and 22 both forward and rear. While another scheme of framework will suffice, the abovedescribed has proved adequate for the needs of the present components of the bar conditioning machine.

It will be appreciated that because of the geometry of the cast bar 12 as well as the various differential stresses imparted to the bar 12 during the continuous casting and conveyance to the bar conditioning machine 10 in addition to its plastic nature, the bar 12 will not always assume a perfect pass line orientation. In order to compensate therefor, the framework is also provided with a plurality of guides 25 which preferably assume the configuration of a hollow truncated pyramid. Each of the guides 25 is secured to the framework before each station and functions to minimize deviation from the preferred pass line during threading of the bar. Once the bar is threaded through and into the hot working apparatus, the tension exerted on the bar is usually sufficient to minimize deviations from the pass line consequently the guides 25 perform their most useful function only during threading. While other guide means can be employed the foregoing is illustrative only.

The bar conditioning machine 10 of the present invention prepares the continuously cast bar 12 for hot working. Accordingly, the bar 12 is quite plastic since it is at a temperature between the hot working tempera ture and the temperature of the molten metal, requiring close support for any conditioning operation. This support is provided by a plurality of roll supports shown generally at 26 disposed along the pass line and secured to the framework by means of frame support 27 secured to cross brace 23. More particularly, the roll support 26 comprises a yoke 28 secured to the frame support 27, roll member 29 carried by the yoke 28 and secured for rotational movement by means of axle 30 anchored in the yoke 28. Also included within the structure is bearing 32 for minimizing slippage due to inertia between roll member 29 and bar 12. The roll supports 26 are positioned along the frame support 27 so that the thrust line of the various stations passes through the center of axle 30. In addition thereto, the roll supports 26 also provide the lower limiting gauge for the bar 12 being conditioned as will be described more fully hereinafter.

As previously stated it is desirable to condition the bar 12 prior to any hot working being performed. This results from the fact that during the continuous casting of the bar, imperfect fit and sealing of the flexible steel belt with the casting wheel results in the formation of flash 34 as shown in FIG. 3. In addition since the flat top 14 is the first surface to solidify release agents and other impurities may become entrapped. Moreover,

because of the chilling effect of the exterior surfaces differential thermal stresses may be induced and some corner cracking may occur at the intersection of flat top 14 and side walls 16. Therefore, it is preferred to remove said defects prior to hot working. Moreover, since the intersection of flat top 14 and vertical walls 16 is quite sharp, there is a pronounced tendency to fold-over" the edge and unless the surface was exceedingly clean and protected, surface contaminants are worked into the bar destroying the quality of the product thus produced. Such fold-over is produced by hot rolling the initial configuration into the form of an oval first and thereafter rolling into a round and a subsequent series of ovals and interspaced rounds. These discrepancies can be eliminated by providing the corners of the bar 12 with a prescribed radius and surface brushing the bar prior to hot working.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1 the bar 12 is illustrated as moving through the bar conditioning machine in a direction from let to right. Since bar guide 25 carried by the framework leads bar 12 to roll support 26 it engages the chamfering station shown generally at 40. Chamfering station 40 comprises tool holder shown generally at 42 carried by arm 44 which is supported for pivotal movement within bracket 46, bottom stop 48 carried by horizontal member 50 secured to the framework, and elevation means 52 connected at one end to arm 44 at a predetermined position between tool holder 42 and bracket 46 and carried at the other end by actuation bracket 54 secured to the framework for selectively raising and lowering the tool holder 42 into and out of engagement with the bar 12. Preferably, the elevation means 52 is a pneumatically actuated double acting cylinder in which the piston rod 55 terminates in swivel bracket 56 which is pivotally secured to arm 44 by means of pin 57.

Since the tool holder of first radius station 60 is a mirror image of the tool holder 42 of chamfering station 40, the tool holder 42 will be described with respect to the first radius station 60. The tool holder 42 comprises an anchor plate 43 which is secured to arm 44, for example, by welding, a substantially H-shaped receiver 45 which is mounted for indexing movement on the anchor plate 43 and a plurality of chamfering tools 47 removably secured in the receiver 45. In the embodiment illustrated, the receiver 45 is indexable at 180 positions apart from one another. It will be appreciated thatif the receiver 45 is replaced by a turret any number of indexing positions may be utilized and such is contemplated herein.

The chamfering tools 47 are disposed for seating engagement in the recess (not shown) formed by the flanges and web of the H-shaped receiver 45 and each tool is secured therein in any well known manner, for example, by bolting. Preferably the tool 47 will have a special cutting insert 49 which is also preferably indexable. The aspect of having the cutting insert 49 as well as the receiver 45 indexable permits rapid tool change without interrupting the conditioning operation. Thus, both tools and inserts can be indexed and replaced without stopping the operation. This becomes important when it is realized that tool wear could be excessive since the conditioning is performed at temperatures in excess of 1,600 F. Good life of the cutting insert 49 has been obtained when the cutting insert is made from a high temperature alloy, tool for example, cobalt-chromium-tungsten alloy containing high amounts of carbon together with iron, manganese and tantalum/columbium, such as Tantung G manufactured by VR Wesson. This alloy bridges the gap between the high speed tool steels and the cemented carbides. Other equally suitable alloys are well known and can be employed.

It will be appreciated that the chamfer tool 47 may be inclined laterally at any desirable angle to provide the necessary clearance; however, it is preferred not to incline the tool from the direction normal to the direction of bar travel so that the cutting insert 49 at the leading edge thereof coincides with the center of axle 30 of the roll support 26 to thereby establish the proper depth of cut. Moreover, by maintaining a predetermined pressure on the elevation means 52 and rigidly securing the chamfering tools 47 within receiver 45 oscillations from the pass line are minimized.

In addition it is preferred to use regulators (not shown) on each side of a piston (not shown) contained in elevation means 52. These regulators are preferably of the relieving type which can be adjusted to provide a constant pneumatic pressure and thereby a constant force to the cylinder 52 so that when the bar 12 deviates from the pass line on a vertical axis the tool will follow the bar 12 in said deviation without losing its function. It will of course be appreciated that the roll support 26 limits the downward deviation from the pass line and the lateral movement is limited by each of the tools 47 disposed on each side of the bar 12. The upward movement along the vertical axis is limited by the stroke of the piston contained in cylinder 52. Such relieving regulators are well known in the art (see, for example, RO Pressure Regulators manufactured by the Gall Corporation).

In the embodiment illustrated, the elevation means 52 is provided with said regulators in the chamfering station 40 and each of the radiusing stations and are similarly equipped with respect to the elevation means of each of said stations. The horizontal surfacing station and the vertical surfacing station are provided with similar pressure regulators to the top and bottom units and the left and right units, respectively. The actual pressure asserted by each unit can be regulated by controlling the amount of current drawn by the field coils of motors of each unit. Thus the horizontal surfacing station 90 and the vertical surfacing station 110 can accommodate deviations from the pass line without losing their function.

The cutting insert 49 is preferably formed in the conventional manner to provide for a 45 chamfer from the surface of the bar fiat top 14. Referring to FIG. 4 there is illustrated a view in cross-section of the bar 12 as it emerges from the chamferring station 40. Any flash 34 or cracks at the intersection between bar flat top 14 and side walls 16 are removed and said surfaces are joined by chamfer edge 58 in the manner shown.

Upon emerging from the chamfer station 40, the bar 12 having the configuration illustrated in FIG. 5 is directed through the second guide 25 to first radius station shown generally at 60. Since the first radius station is'a mirror image of chamfer station 40 its individual components will not be described in detail, except for the radius tool 62 shown in partial view of FIG. 6. In FIG. 6 there is illustrated tool 62 having radius cutting insert 64 secured thereto by means of clamping member 66. Preferably a chip breaker 68 is interposed between the clamping member 66 and the insert 64. In

order to provide the bar 12 with the proper rounded corners, the geometry of the radius cutting edge becomes significant. In FIG. 7 the cutting insert 64 is illustrated with a true radius within the angle a which extends to a predetermined depth from the leading edge of the insert. In practice it has been found that optimum results are obtained when the maximum radius R is between 5/32 and 3/ l 6 inch. Since the overall bar geometry includes a bar included angle of 80 V2" and is between 5/32 and 3/16 inch in radius the included angle extends 80%. However, with a bar included angle 60 of 80 b it becomes necessary in order to prevent gouging of the flat top 14 surface and/or the vertical walls 16 to provide a terminal portion 70 on each side of the angle a of the radius cutting insert 64 and such terminal portion 70 is provided with a relief angle of about 0 45 so the angle formed by the extension of the relief angle of the terminal portion 70 and a line parallel to the bisector of the angle a will provide an included angle l/2 Bor about 41. Thus with the total angular relationship of the H2 B and H2 B providing an angle of about 82, no gouging occurs. This angle B is referred to herein as the tool included angle. It will be apparent that with the foregoing geometry, the cutting insert 64 will provide a smooth radius to the bar 12 will have sufficient relief angle to prevent gouging yet maintain sufficient proximity to remove chips from the area. Thus, upon emerging from the first radius station 60 the bar 12 will have the configuration shown in FIG. wherein the flat top 14 is joined to the vertical side wall 16 by the smooth radius 70 which resulted from the transformation of chamfered edge 58 of FIG. 4.

Since the bar 12 must be conditioned and delivered for entry into the hot working apparatus before the temperature drops to about l,625 F. it will be realized that the bar 12 is in a highly plastic condition. Accordingly, some difficulty may be encountered in chip breaking at chamfering station 40 and first radius station 60. As a result, the idealized configuration to the cross-section of the bar 12 as illustrated in FIG. 5 may not always be obtained. Furthermore, deviations from the pass line are minimized by the working forces at chamfer station 40 and first radius station 60. Therefore, in order to approximate the closest approach to the idealized configuration of FIG. 5, it is preferred to subject the bar 12 to a second radius station 80 which is identical with first radius station 60. The second radius station 80 has the same components, actuation mechanism, supports and guidance so that its description is unnecessary. As the bar 12 emerges from second radius station it will have the configuration nearest to that illustrated in FIG. 5.

The reason for conditioning the bar 12 is to prevent the entrapment of material which would adversely affect the chemical, physical, mechanical and electrical properties of the material being produced, in the present embodiment magnet quality wire. In this respect, perhaps oxide scale or surface contaminants provide the major source of concern. Accordingly, it appears desirable to remove the same from all surfaces prior to hot working. In order to accomplish this the bar 12 with its corners having been provided with a smooth radius is directed through another guide 25 to the horizontal surface station shown generally at 90. The horizontal surfacing station 90 comprises a top unit 92 and a bottom unit 94 each unit being substantially a mirror image of the other. The top unit 92 comprises a platform 97 having one end pivotally mounted in bracket 98 secured to the cross brace 23 on the vertical intermediate support 22. The platform 97 is also provided with a pivot bracket 99 to which an actuating cylinder 100 is attached, that is, the actuating cylinder 100 is carried for pivotal movement on anchor bracket 101 and a piston rod 102 of actuating cylinder 100 terminates in eye bracket 103 which is pinned to bracket 99. The platform 97 also serves as the base to which the motor (not shown with respect to horizontal surfacing station 90 but quite similar to the motor to be described with respect to vertical surface station 110) is secured in any well known manner. Referring to FIG. 8, there is illustrated the shaft 107 of the motor (not shown) and keyed thereto is the arbor 106 to which wire wheel is secured for rotating movement thereon. The wire wheel 105 is also provided with a guard 104 that partially encloses wire wheel 105. The guard 104 is also provided with an opening into which the end plate 108 of the arbor 106 is secured. a coupling 109 is disposed within the end plate 108 and is connected to a source (not shown) of a cutting cooling fluid which is conveyed to the central point of the arbor 106 for metering to the wire wheel 105. By supplying a fluid coolant in the manner described, the life of the wire brush 105 is enhanced and the coolant aids in removing the surface contaminants. It will be appreciated that the rate of delivery of fluid coolant must be limited so that the surface of the bar 12 is not chilled to below about l,600 F. for copper when the bar enters the hot working apparatus.

With the top and bottom surfaces of the bar mechanically conditioned, the bar 12 enters guide 25 and is conveyed to vertical surfacing station 110 which is structurally similar to the horizontal surfacing station 90 described hereinbefore. Referring more particularly to FIG. 2 there is illustrated a left unit 112 and a right unit 114 which are substantially mirror images and each unit is carried by the framework 116118 for movement into and out of engagement with the bar 12. More particularly, each of the units 112 and 114 comprise a horizontal platform 116 with a downwardly depending, inwardly inclined anchor plate 118 on which is secured a motor 120 similar to that construction described hereinbefore with respect to the horizontal conditioning unit 90. The horizontal plate 116 is provided at the inward portion thereof with upwardly extending brackets 122 which are secured for pivotal movement by pins 124 in yoke 126 anchored to the framework. The opposite end of the platform 116 provides the point for the attachment of the actuation mechanism which comprises cylinder 128 having one end thereof secured for pivotal movement to the framework by means of anchor bracket 130 and pin 132 and having a piston rod 134 depending from the other end of said cylinder, said piston rod 134 terminating in a fork bracket 136 which is secured to another anchor bracket 138 by means of pin 140. The motor 120 is provided with a shaft 142 (107 in FIG. 8) which is keyed to the arbor 106 in the same manner as the horizontal surfacing station and is in all terms identical with the arbor 106, wire wheel 105, guard 104 and the balance of the structure which performs the horizontal surfacing.

Since the vertical side walls 16 of the bar 12 have a taper of about 9% from the vertical, the downward depending anchor plate is provided with a similar taper so that when the piston rod 134 is actuated to cause horizontal plate 116 to move downwardly and is pivoted about pin 124, the outer periphery of wire wheel 105 engages the entire surface of the vertical wall 16 to remove scale and other surface contaminants which would detrimentally affect the quality of the product.

OPERATION The bar 12 in the form shown in FIG. 3 is conveyed to the chamfering station shown generally at 40 by means of guide 25. The bar 12 is supported for continuous movement along the pass line by means of the upwardly extending roll support means 26 to which the roll member 29 is attached for rotating movement within the yoke 28. In line with the roll supporting means 26 the cylinder 52 is actuated driving the piston rod 55 in a downward direction a predetermined distance until the chamfering tool 42 engages the upper portion of the vertically extending side wall 16 of the bar 12. Since the cylinder 52 is designed to operate at a preset pressure any undue bending in the bar will force the tool upwardly and tend to straighten the bar between the tool 42 and the roll support 26. Since the tool 42 works on a predetermined pressure a predetermined chamfered corner 58 is cut between the flat top 14 and the vertically extending inwardly tapered side wall 16 at the initial chamfering station 40. The bar next passes through the second guide member 25 to the first radius station 60 and the cylinder 52 of the station 60 is actuated thereby dropping the radiusing tool 42 to a predetermined height for engaging the chamfered surface 58 of the bar 12. The cutting tool is provided with a geometry to accept the bar included angle of about 80 30', so that a smooth radius can be obtained on the chamfered portion 58 of the bar 12. However, the included angle of the tool provides for an approximate 0 45"clearance from the angle a so that the overall tool included angle ,8 will be 82 as is evident from FIG. 7. Since the copper bar material of the continuous casting process is at an elevated temperature and does not cool to an average of below l,600 F. during the entire conditioning thereof it will be appreciated that the bar is in a plastic condition. As a result it is preferred to have two radiusing stations in tandem with one another, the first station providing for a partial radiusing and the second station providing for a finish radiusing. In addition thereto, any chips that may be remaining from the chamfering operation must also be effectively removed from the bar prior to the commencement of the hot working operation. Accordingly, the bar from the first radiusing station is conducted through guide 25 to the second radius station 80 where the finish radiusing by a tool having the same geometry is applied to each side of the bar. Following the completion of the formation of a radius between the flat top 12 and the vertically extending inwardly depending side walls 16 as shown more clearly in FIG. the bar is guided by means 25 to the horizontal surfacing station shown more clearly at 90. The wire brushes 105 are rotated by means of motors and the cylinder 100 is actuated to bring and maintain the periphery of the wire brushes in contact with the flat top and the bottom surface of the bar 12. Each of the cylinders 100 can be regulated so that a predetermined amperage is monitored on the motors driving the brushes and as such op-' timum mechanical conditioning to the top and bottom surfaces can be applied to the bar without unduly removing the same from the pass line through the apparatus. Upon the completion of the mechanical conditioning, the top and bottom surface the bar is conveyed through guide 25 to the vertical surfacing station where cylinders 128 are actuated to drive wire brushes 105 into contact with the vertically extending side walls 16 of the bar 12. The motors are actuated and the pressure in cylinder 128 is regulated so that a predetermined amperage is maintained in the field coils of the motor thus obtaining optimum surface conditionoing. Since the wire brushes 105 are provided with a fluid coolant which is dispensed through flexible coupling 109 and arbor 106 to the perhipery of the wire brush 105, the fluid coolant also acts to improve the efficiency of the conditioning operation and prolongs the brush life. Upon emerging from the vertical conditioning station the bar may be delivered directly to the hot working apparatus to produce a circular rod of an indeterminant length.

In the embodiment described, the bar which was continuously cast was provided with vertically extending inwardly tapering side walls which were described as having about a 9 30" taper thereto. It will be appreciated that a different degree of taper can be provided to the bar and the overall apparatus of the present invention can be utilized with the proper change in cutting insert geometry to accommodate the different bar geometry. It is preferred however for copper bars to maintain the taper between 9 and l0, although large deviations therefrom are also contemplated. Moreover, the cutting insert has been described as having 0 45" relief angle and it will be appreciated that such relief angle can vary between 0 3O to 1 30" and greater, although it is preferred to maintain the same within the range stated.

For other metals such as aluminum, or copper base alloys, suitable changes in the apparatus and the processing conditions can be readily made.

It will be appreciated that various changes and modifications may be made in the foregoing apparatus without departing from the spirit of the present invention and as many changes may be made in the embodiments herein set forth it being understood that all matter described herein are to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

We claim as our invention:

1. In bar conditioning apparatus, the combination comprising a first station including means for supporting a moving bar having a flat top surface, a relatively flat bottom surface and generally vertically extending side walls, the flat top surface and side walls meeting to form edges, and means for chamfering the edges of the moving bar, a second station in tandem with the first station and including means for supporting the moving bar and means for partially forming a predetermined radius on each chamfered edge of the bar, a third station in tandem with the second station and including bar supporting means and means for finish forming the radius and means in tandem with the third station for mechanically cleaning the surfaces of the bar before bar and the vertical surfacing station comprises a pair of opposed wire wheels each of which engages the vertical side walls of the bar.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 in which each of said wire wheels is fluid cooled.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 in which each radius is formed with a cutting insert which is provided with a tool included angle of between 81 and 83 30 and a bar included angle of about 80%".

5. in bar conditioning apparatus disposed intermediate a continuous casting machine of the wheel and belt type to produce a bar and hot working apparatus for hot working the bar, said bar having a flat top surface, a relatively flat bottom surface and generally vertically extending side walls, the flat top surface and side walls meeting to form edges, the combination comprising, first means for supporting a hot continuously cast moving bar produced by the casting machine while chamfering the edges thereof, second means in tandem for supporting the chamferred bar while forming a radius on the chamfered edges, and third means in tandem for mechanically cleaning the surfaces of the moving bar before hot working the same.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 in which the radius on the chamfered edges is formed in two operations in tandem, the first operation comprising means for supporting the moving bar and means for partially forming a radius on the chamfered corners and the second operation comprising means for supporting said moving bar and means for finish forming said radius.

7. The apparatus of claim 5 in which the mechanical cleaning of the surfaces of the bar is accomplished by means of a horizontal surfacing station and a vertical surfacing station, said horizontal surfacing station comprising a pair of opposed wire brushes one of which engages the flat top surface and one of which engages the bottom surface of the bar, and the vertical surfacing station comprises a pair of opposed wire brushes disposed for movement toward one another on opposite sides of the vertical side walls of the bar.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 in which each wire brush is fluid cooled.

9. The apparatus of claim 5 in which the radius is formed by means of a tool having a tool included angle of about 82 and a bar included angle of about 30".

10. The apparatus of claim 7 in which the wire brushes of the vertical surfacing station are carried at an angle corresponding to the degree of inward taper of the vertical side walls of the bar for tangentially engaging said vertical side walls of the moving bar.

11. The apparatus of claim 5 in which the chamfering radiusing and cleaning means are adjustably mounted for the application of a substantially constant force thereto with respect to the moving bar to provide for bar deviation from a bar pass line while maintaining effective operative functioning.

12. The apparatus of claim 5 in which the cutting insert for forming the radius is provided with a tool included angle within the range between 81 and 83 30" and a bar included angle of about 80 30". 

1. In bar conditioning apparatus, the combination comprising a first station including means for supporting a moving bar having a flat top surface, a relatively flat bottom surface and generally vertically extending side walls, the flat top surface and side walls meeting to form edges, and means for chamfering the edges of the moving bar, a second station in tandem with the first station and including means for supporting the moving bar and means for partially forming a predetermined radius on each chamfered edge of the bar, a third station in tandem with the second station and including bar supporting means and means for finish forming the radius and means in tandem with the third station for mechanically cleaning the surfaces of the bar before hot working the same.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the mechanical cleaning of the surfaces of the bar is accomplished by means of a horizontal surfacing station and a vertical surfacing station, said horizontal surfacing station comprising a pair of opposed wire wheels each of which engages the flat top surface and the bottom surface of the bar and the vertical surfacing station comprises a pair of opposed wire wheels each of which engages the vertical side walls of the bar.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2 in which each of said wire wheels is fluid cooled.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1 in which each radius is formed with a cutting insert which is provided with a tool included angle of between 81* and 83* 30'''' and a bar included angle of about 80 1/2 *.
 5. In bar conditioning apparatus disposed intermediate a continuous casting machine of the wheel and belt type to produce a bar and hot working apparatus for hot working the bar, said bar having a flat top surface, a relatively flat bottom surface and generally vertically extending side walls, the flat top surface and side walls meeting to form edges, the combination comprising, first means for supporting a hot continuously cast moving bar produced by the casting machine while chamfering the edges thereof, second means in tandem for supporting the chamferred bar while forming a radius on the chamfered edges, and third means in tandem for mechanically cleaning the surfaces of the moving bar before hot working the same.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5 in which the radius on the chamfered edges is formed in two operations in tandem, the first operation comprising means for supporting the moving bar and means for partially forming a radius on the chamfered corners and the second operation comprising means for supporting said moving bar and means for finish forming said radius.
 7. The apparatus of claim 5 in which the mechanical cleaning of the surfaces of the bar is accomplished by means of a horizontal surfacing station and a vertical surfacing station, said horizontal surfacing station comprising a pair of opposed wire brushes one of which engages the flat top surface and one of which engages the bottom surface of the bar, and the vertical surfacing station comprises a pair of opposed wire brushes disposed for movement toward one another on opposite sides of the vertical side walls of the bar.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7 in which each wire brush is fluid cooled.
 9. The apparatus of claim 5 in which the radius is formed by means of a tool having a tool included angle of about 82* and a bar included angle of about 80* 30''''.
 10. The apparatus of claim 7 in which the wire brushes of the vertical surfacing station are carried at an angle corresponding to the degree of inward taper of the vertical side walls of the bar for tangentially engaging said vertical side walls of the moving bar.
 11. The apparatus of claim 5 in which the chamfering radiusing and cleaning means are adjustably mounted for the application of a substantially constant force thereto with respect to the moving bar to provide for bar deviation from a bar pass line while maintaining effective operative functioning.
 12. The apparatus of claim 5 in which the cutting insert for forming the radius is provided with a tool included angle within the range between 81* and 83* 30'''' and a bar included angle of about 80* 30''''. 